Mechanical stoker.



0. w. WILLEY.

MECHANICAL STOKER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 190-1.

95 11 ,7 1 2 Patented M r- 8, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

uveul'oz .Uhargs W. Wilg G. W. WILLEY.

MECHANICAL STOKER.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV. 29, 1907.

Patented Mar. 8, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

gvwentor,

ay y s 23 he uses i LES W. WIIJLEY, OF BIRNIE, MANITOBA, CANADA MECHANICAL STDKER.

' specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. lulu.

Application filed November 29, 1907. Serial No. 404,453.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES IV. WILLEY, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at Birnie, in the Province of Manitoba, in the Dominion of Canada, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mechanical Stoker's, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improved mechanical stoker for use in feeding fuel to the furnace of a locomotive or other steam engine and the said invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of devices hereinafter described and claimed.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine of this character which operates automatically to supply fuel to afurnace as thesame is needed so as to maintain practically continuous steam pressure in the boiler.

In the accompanying drawings :--Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a ortion of a locomotive and tender provi ed with a mechanical stoker constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail transverse sectional view of the fuel conveyor. Fig. 4: is a detail elevation of the fuel conveying screw. Fig. 5 is a detail view, artly in elevation and partly in section of the means for automatically supplying steam to the engine which operates t e fuel conveyor.

In accordance with my invention 1 provide a chute which comprises a lower section 1 and an upper section 2. Said lower section, which is inclined as shown, is provided with flanges 3 at its sides, at its lower end, to bear against the end of the boiler indi cated at a and the said flanges are secured to the boiler head to dispose, the lower end of the said lower section of the chute oppo-.

site the fire box I) of the furnace. The said lower section of the chute is provided with an extended bottom plate/l which enters and extends through the lower'side of the fuel door opening and is rovided at its lower end with lf-shaped p ates 5 which are secured thereto and form teeth which eflect a separation of the pieces of coal as the same extend in the chute and serve to evenly distribute coal over the fire. The upper section of the chute is pivotally connected to the lower section as at 6 so that said upper sectien of the chute is mounted for angular movement in a vertical plane.

A fuel conveying tube comprises a lower section 7 and an upper section 8 coupled tolugs 10. Rods 11 pass through openings in the said In s and are slidablein the lugs of the lowerfiandand coast with such band to keep the lower tubular section 7 in alinement with the upper section 8 under all conditions, so that while the fuel conveying tube is longitudinally extensible by reason of the telescopic-movement of the section 7 of "the section 8 said sections are prevented from moving angularly with reference to each other.

In the embodiment of my invention here shown the lower section 7 of the conveyor tube passes through an opening in the front side of the coal compartment 0 of the tender and is provided with a flange 12 whichis secured on the inner side of the front wall of the tender. The conveyor screw 13 eatends longitudinally through andis revoluble in the fuel conveying tube. Said screw.

comprises. a central shaft 14 and s irally disposed blades 15 which extend t ereon nearl from end to end thereof. The said spira blades are rovided with stop shoulders 16 at suit-ab e distances apart, which in practice are preferably wedge-shaped slates 17, which are secured to the blades as ydmeans of rivets or other suitable devices an which are oblique to the proximate localized surfaces of the blades to which they are attached, and shoulders 19 at their upper ends. Hence, during the rotation of the conveyer screw the oblique surfaces 18 of the said stops od'er minimum resistance to the passage of the coal or other fuel upwardly between the spiral blades of the conveyer screw or shoulders l9 which are substantially at right angles to the said spiral blades offer effectual resistance to the downward passage, by gravity of the coal and thus the conveyor screw is enabled to neutraliae any tendency the coal to pass present longitudinal outer surfaces 18 downwardly thereon by gravity and the ca- I pacity of the conveyer screw is correspondbearing in the inclined bottom of the coal compartment of the tender near the front end of the tender so that the rear end of the screw is disposed in the forward end of the tender and immediately in front of the inclined bottom of the said coal compartment. The n per end of the conveyer screw shaft has a bearing in the upper section 2 of the chute and is provided with a gear wheel 21 which engages a similar gear 22 mounted on a shaft 23 which extends from one side-of said upper chute section. A s rocket wheel 24 is also'secured on said sha t and, hence, in effect is secured to the gear 22 so that said sprocket wheel and said gear 22 can only revolve together.

- A suitable motor, which is here indicated as a turbine steam en ine 25 is secured in the floor of the engine ca b able su port and its shaft is provided with a sprocket wheel 26, connected by an endless sprocket chain 27 to the sprocket wheel 24. The said s rocket chain is initially slack and the same 1s kept at the requisite tension by means of a tightener pulley 28 which enga es one lead thereof and is mounted at one en of a'longitudinal movable arm 29' which arm is here shown as slidably mounted in keepers 30 on one side of the lower section of the chute. Said arm has a stop 31. A coiled extensile spring 32 bears between said stop and one of the keepers 20 so as to tend to move the arm 29 and, hence, also the tightening pulley 28 in one direction so that said tightening pulley is caused to take up the slack in the sprocket chain occasioned by the angular movement of the up er chute section that is caused by motion 0 the locomotive and the cab.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that when the motor or engine 25 is in operation the conveyer screw is revolved and is caused to convey coal from the tender tothe upper end of the conveyer tube and discharge it therefrom into the u persection of the chute, so that the'coal 1s caused'to descend the chute by gravity and to be discharged into the furnace.

Within the scope of my invention any suitable means ma be employed to control the operation of t e motor or to drive the conveyer screw of the mechanical stoker. It is, however, an obiect of the invention 'to provide automatica 1y 0 crating means controlled by variations of steam pressure in the boiler to control the operation of the stoker drivin motor. For the purpose of this specification I show at Fig. 5 such pressure controlled apparatus for controlling the'operation of the stoker drivingmotor.

or on any other suit-' A steampipe 33 which leads from the boiler to the motor 25 is provided with an auto matically acting valve 34 and with a manually operated valve 35. A branch pipe 36 which leads from the steam pipe 33 at a point near the boiler discharges into a cylinder 37 in which operates a piston 38. The rod 39 of this piston is connected to the valve 34, which in the present instance is a slide valve, and on the said pistonrod and within the cylinder is a stop 40 in the upper end of the cylinder through which the piston rod slides. A spring 41 which in the present instance is shown as a coiled extensile spring is disposed in the cylinder on the piston rod and between the sto 40 and the piston and acts to force the piston downwardly and normally open the valve 34 to the fullest extent. The tension of the spring is such that it normally maintains automatically the acting valve 34 in open position at the normal working pressure of steam'in the boiler so that the motor 25 is kept constantly at work when the valve 35 is open so that the automatic stoker is driven continuously and feeds coal in the required quantities continuously; to the furnace. In the event that the steam pressure in the boiler becomes excessive its action on the piston 38 will be such as to move the piston against the tension of the spring 41- and cause the automatically acting valve 34 to be entirely or partially closed accordin to the steam pressure, and, hence, diminis or entirely out off the sup l'y of steam to the motor 25 with the res t that the speed of the mechanical stoker will be controlled automaticall b the ressure of steam in the boiler t ere ena ling steam of uniform ressure to e maintained in the boiler and a so effecting economy of coal.

The conveyer screw shaft is loosely and slidably mounted in the tender of the 1000- motive. The opening formedin the tender is enlarged so as to provide for the lateral movement of the conveyer tube, the flange prising Sll able sections, said tube being connected at its forward end to the angu larly. movable section ofthe chute and at its rear end to the tender, and a conveyer screw disposed in the tube and having its upper end journaled in a portion of the angularly' movable section and its lower end' and slidably mounted in the tender. n apparatus of the class described, a locomotive and tender therefor, a chute carried by the locomotiveand having an loosel angularly movable section, a tube connecting the angularly movable section with the tender and comprising telescopic sections adapted for longitudinal movement with respect to each other, and a conveyer exterding throughout the length of the said tu e. i

3. In an apparatus of the class described,

a locomotive and tender therefor, a chute ada ted for attachment to the furnace of the ocomotive and having an upper section movable angularly in a vertical plane and adapted for slight sliding movement, a tube connecting the angularly movable section with the tender and comprising telescopically connected sections adapted for movable angularly, a conveyer tube attached to the upper sectlon, means at the opposite end of the tube for securing the same to the tender, said conveyer tube comprisin a plurality of sections slidably connecte to each other, bands carried by the sections of the said conveyer tube, apertured 111 s upon the bands, rods having portions isposed in the apertures in said lugs, and a spiral screw extendin throughout the entire length of the tu e and having its extreme rear end mounted in the tender.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a locomotive and tender therefor, a chute mounted upon the furnace of the locomotive and having a section, adapted for angular and sliding movement, a bearing located within the tender, a telescopic conveyer tube having one end 0 ening directly into the tender and slidab y mounted in the said bearing and having its other end secured to the said pivoted section of the chute, and a spiral conveying screw operatively mounted within the said conveyer' tube.

In testimon whereof ll afix my signature in presence 0 two witnesses.

CHARLES W. WILLEY. Witnesses:

JOHN T. WILLEY, JOHN HANCOCK. 

